Laguna Beach. home to some of the most beautiful Southern California beaches you can see, and Victoria Beach is one of them. nestled between cliffs and upscale beach homes, Victoria Beach is one of the hidden gems of Orange County. many refer to this beach as having a Rapunzel's Castle or a Pirate Tower. and as you can see, it kinda does. last week, the boys and i decided to have sunset picnic on Victoria Beach. what a special evening it was to enjoy the magical landscape and candy coated sunset over the Pacific waters.
Victoria Beach is located on Victoria Drive, off of Pacific Coast Highway. the address to the stairway entrance is 2713 Victoria Drive, Laguna Beach. it is not the easiest to spot, as it is surrounded by gated homes and private beach mansions. and parking? yes, it is very scarce! most likely you will have to park on Pacific Coast Highway and walk down. luckily, my hubby dropped us off at the entrance, and went off to search for parking on his own.
the trek down to Victoria Beach is fairly easy. the walkway and stairs are paved and nicely kept. 
when you reach the bottom, you will see a small white sand beach. i am sure it gets crowded at times, but it wasn't too crowded the evening we went. p.s. there isn't bathroom access or lifeguards.
to get to the "castle", you need head to the right and walk around the cliff to the North. there you will see it, a fantastic rustic castle-looking rocket structure nestled up to one of the Laguna Beach cliffs.
so what is the deal with this tower?
this structure, is a 60-foot castle-inspired tower that was built in the 1920's along with the house at the top of the bluff. the tower has a staircase inside that was used to get down to the beach. it is made of poured concrete, and has an ocean stone foundation. the cone-shaped roof is made of shingles. there are several narrow window openings in the tower wall that allow light to pass through to the wooden spiral stairway inside.
the home above the tower is known as the “Norman House”, and it and the tower are landmarks of Laguna Beach. they were built for the wealthy, California State Senator William Edward Brown and his family as a summer home. many Americans who spent time in France during WWI were inspired by the chateaus and castles. many of them built homes during the 1920s that would emulated these chateaus and castles. the Norman House is one of the few remaining examples of this on the oceanfront of Southern California.
just a few yards south of the tower, you will see a circular concrete structure that was once a seaside pool. it is now filled with sand, but you can still see the basic outline where the pool once was. kids can run and play here as the waves crash around it.
this is the view from the tower looking to the south. if you look closely, you can see the circular pool structure.
we had such a fun time exploring Victoria Beach. not just the tower, but also the beach, circular pools and tide pools.
the tide was in that evening, so the water was a bit rough. i had to keep a close eye on all the boys to make sure they were safe from the water. but that didn't stop us from having fun.
i highly recommend visiting Victoria Beach. it is always a treat to check out the different hidden gems we have in Orange County as well as the beauty of our beaches. Victoria Beach will not disappoint.
Is there anyway for a handicapped person to get down to the beach that doesn't have a lot of stairs?
Thanks for all the great info! Is there a better time of day to visit Victoria Beach?
All of the above photos are eye-catching
Thanks for sharing information on Laguna Beach
That's a wonderful picture! looking forward to reading many more of your posts.